Holder for knitted fabrics



May 5, 1925.

O. C. SEMONSEN HOLDER FOR KNITTED FABRICS Filed June 2?, i923 INVENTOR ATTORNEY lPatented May 5, 1925.

rs sfIfAE 1,536,273 PATENT o FIcE.

iOTTO C. SEMONSEN, OF BROC JKLYN, NEW YORK. 4

HOLDER FOR xnrmn nannies.

7 Application filed June 27, 1923. Serial No. 648,105;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Dare C. SEMoNsnN, a citizen of the United States, and residentof Brooklyn, county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. 'in a Holder for Knitted Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to a ring or other suitable device, over which knitted fabric may be stretched and to which it may be secured in stretched condition, so that it may be readily operated upon with my improved run needle," to restore a ladder or run, and thus restore the fabric to its original condition and appearance.

One obJect of my improved holder is to provide means for more particularly .holding knitted fabric tightly stretched so as to stretch the run and means for securing the fabric to the holder in stretched condition, the arrangement being such that the degree of stretching maybe modified .while the holding. device is in position.

In restorin runs in knitted fabrics, such as silk stoc ings, wherein the knitted threads are extremely fine, it is difiicult to distinguish the individual loops and threads unless the fabric is tightly stretched and the visibility of the threads and loops is in- "creased by placing a disc of contrasting color back of or under the stretched portion of the fabric, which is to be operated upon. Therefore, a further object of my improved holder is to provide a disc or diaphragm spaced from the fabric supporting means of the holder over which the fabric is stretched, so as to permit working space for the needle between the fabric and the disc. Preferably opposite faces of the disc are made of difierent colors, one being light and the other dark, so as to offer a contrast with light and dark colors of fabrics. bviously, when innse, a light colored fabric will be stretched over the holder, so that the dark face of the disc is below the fabric;

while with a dark colored fabric, the opposite or light colored face of the disc will be below the fabric.

One form of my improved holder for holding knitted fabric tightly stretched while operating with my improved run needle, is shown in the accompanying drawings, together with an enlarged view of the end of the needle, operating 'on a run or ladder in the knitted fabric. Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved ring or holder with the black or dark face of the disc uppermost; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ring with the 11 ht colored face of the disc up permost, t e fabric being indicated as stretched thereover and partially broken away; Fig. 3 shows a transverse section of the ring or holder and the fabric, the section being taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig( l is a plan view of the fabric and needle enlarged to show the method'of restoring therun; and Fig. 5 is a side view of the needle andfabric, as shown in Fig. 4-, the

fabric and threads bein' shown in. section.

- Referring'to the drawings, it will be seen that my improved-holdercomprises a cylindrical ring I provided with annular beads 2, at each end thereof, the beads forming flanges projecting outwardly, as-shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. It will 'be understood that the cylindrical ring, including the annular flanges or beads, may be made of metal or any suitable sheet material, in which case the beads are rolled in the usual manner, but preferably, the ringor holder may be molded from any. suitable plastic material, such as celluloid, bakelite, or hard rubber. When thefring holder is formed, 1t 1s preferably provided with an annular groove 3, located on the inner wall of the cylindrical portion of the ring, about midway between the ends thereof. A disc 4,

preferably ofopaque material, is inserted in the annular groove 3, so as to form a. back ground for fabric stretched over either end.

of the ring orholder. Oneface, 5, of the disc is preferably black or dark colored to contrast with light colored knitted fabric when the latter is stretched over the lower end of the ring or holder as shown in Fig.

3, or the upper end, as shown in Fig. l, the

latter view showing the dark colored surface 5 of the disc 4. The upper surface 6, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is preferably white or light colored to contrast with black or dark colored knitted fabric, when the latter is stretched over the upper end of the ring,

as shown in Figs. 2 and 3..

The fabric A is preferably stretched tightly over the end of the r' i or holder 1, substantially as indicated in igs 2 and 3 of the drawings, and is adapted'to be securely held in stretched position by suitable means gripping the fabric between the heads 2. in the present instance, l have utilized an elastic band 7 for this purpose. The

elastic or resilient gripping band has the advantage that the fabric can be drawn down over the bead 2, under the gripping band, while the latter is inplace, thus enabling the operator to quickly ad ust the fabric and obtain the desired tension thereon, the tension being maintained by the gripping action of the elastic band against the cylindrical walls of the ring. It is more particularly desirable that the fabric should be stretched tightly, both longitudinally and transversely of the line of the run or ladder, so as to maintain the'dropped loop threads taut during the operation of restoring the loops by means of my lmproved run needle, which is more particularly described in my companion application, filed of even date herewith.

After the fabric has been properly stretched over the appropriate end of the holder or ring, and tightly held in position by means of the elastic band 7, the fabric with the run therein will have the appearance substantially as shown in Figs. 2 to 5 of the drawings. In Figs. 4 and 5, the loops and threads of the fabric are shown enlarged, the regularly knitted loops being shown at A, while the dropped threads of the ladder or run are shown at B. 'By reference to my companion case, above referred to, it will be seen that my improved run needle is provided with a conically tapered end 8, the lower end of which, at 9, curves around transversely of the axis to the point 10 of the needle. Back of the point 10, the end of the needle is undercut to form an overhanging hook 11, adapted to engage the dle is inserted in the last dropped loop (3,,

the hook 11 is made to enga e the nearest adjacent thread B of the ladder or dropped loops, as indicated in Figs. 4: and 5 of the drawings, and thereafter by drawing the needle outward and turning it toward the left, the loop G will slide off the end of the needle, while the thread B, engaged by the hook 11 can be .drawn through the loop C to form a new loop. The new loop thus formed is retained on the hook 11 and then forced over the shoulder 12 by pushing the needle downward into the fabric; after which the operation may be repeated until the run is entirely restored.

In my improved holder, it will be seen that the disc 4 is located below the fabric stretched across the ends of the holder and spaced therefroma suficient distance, so as not to interfere with the insertion of the needle through the fabric as is required when operating the needle to restore the run. As previously stated, if the knitted fabric is of light color, the dark face of the disc should be uppermost, while if the knitted fabric is of dark color, the light face of the disc' should be uppermost.

While I have shown one form of my im proved holder arranged and constructed substantially as shown and described, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the particular construction shown, for obviously, various modifications may be made in the form and arran ement of the elements for properly stretchm the fabric and holding it in stretched relation to a disc or diaphragm of a color contrasting with that of the fabric, and various modifications in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim '1. A holder for holding knitted fabric in position to be operated upon by a special needle for restoring runs in the fabric, which comprises a frame over which the fabric is stretched, means for securing and holding the fabric in stretched relation over said frame, and a diaphragm of contrasting colors spaced from and located below the plane of the fabric stretched over said frame.

2. A holder for holding knitted fabric while repairing a run therein, which comprises a reversible open-ended holder, over the ends of which the fabric may be stretched, means for securing the stretched fabric to the holder, and a disc located between and spaced from the ends of said holder, said disc being of difl'erent colors on the two sides thereof to contrast with the color of the fabric.

3. As an article of manufacture, a holder for holding knitted fabric, comprising a molded cylindrical ring, provided with outwardly projecting beads at each end thereof and an annular groove in its inner wall about midway the ends, and an opaque disc secured within said groove and transversely of the axis of said ring, said disc being light colored on one side and dark colored on the other, whereby the fabric may be stretched on one end or the other of said cylindrical ring to contrast with the color of the disc.

4:. The holder as claimed in claim 3, in which an elastic band is mounted between said beads ends for gripping and holding the fabric in stretched relation over either end of said cylindrical ring.

OTTO C. SEMONSEN. 

